Free The Secret Wife by Susan Mallery Page B

sent her mother had been returned. She’d left the rehab center without telling anyone where she’d gone. Which means she’s back on the streets.”
    Elissa faced him. “That’s horrible. No wonder she’s so upset. Her mother could be ill or dead. How can she stand not knowing?”
    “It’s worse than that.” Cole returned his attention to the mug of coffee on the table in front of him. “She hasn’t just lost her mom, she’s lost the dream.”
    Without wanting to, knowing full well that he was going to bite her head off again, or find something to blame on her, Elissa returned to the table. This time, instead of sitting next to him, she took the seat across the table. Somehow the distance made her feel safer.
    “I don’t understand,” she said. “Isn’t there a way to find out what happened to her mother? Can’t we call the police or something to trace her?”
    “Sure, and I will. But that’s not what Tiffany’s upset about. You can’t relate to this because you have family, but an orphan has no one. No parents, no family of any kind. Growing up that alone is very threatening, especially to a child. Everything they read or see on television is about mom, dad and kids.” He gave her a brief smile. “One exception is ‘The Sally McGuire Show.’ The children here watch it on cable all the time.”
    “Although I’m thrilled they can relate, it’s pretty humiliating to remember I used to do that. Go on.”
    He leaned back in his chair. “There’s a hierarchy. How old were you when you lost your folks? How much do you remember? Do you have any photos or other memorabilia? That kind of stuff. The more, the better. Then there are the few special children. Those with a living relative who for some reason can’t take care of the child. According to the rules of the orphanage, those are the lucky kids. They get the fantasy.”
    Elissa nodded slowly. “I understand. Everyone here has a dream about being adopted into a family, and the children with living relatives believe they have the best chance for making it come true. If only Tiffany’s mother will stop taking drugs, Tiffany can be rescued. Her world made right.”
    “Exactly.”
    The night surrounded them. Although there were lights on in the kitchen, darkness invaded in the form of silence. Beyond these walls was the silence of sleeping children, dreaming dreams of families and homes in which they could belong.
    She stared at the man across from her. Now, in the quiet, he seemed to accept her. She didn’t know how long that would last. Cole seemed so eager to find fault.
    If only… If only she could get over him. If only the sight of him didn’t make her heart beat fast. If only she didn’t think he was the handsomest, smartest, most caring man she’d ever met—to everyone else, if not to her. If only his jokes didn’t make her laugh. If only she could have fallen in love with someone else instead of him.
    Dark hair fell across his forehead. The hint of stubble shadowed his jaw, making him look like a modern-day pirate. His firm mouth pulled straight and she wondered what he was thinking. About Tiffany or about his own broken dreams?
    “Did you wait for your grandfather to come rescue you?” she asked.
    He raised his gaze to hers. “You remembered?”
    She remembered everything about their time together. “Of course. I was with you when you got the letter from him.”
    He laughed harshly. “The letter. Why does bad news always come through the mail? Can’t anybody call it in?” He shook his head. “Don’t answer that. Bad news isn’t any better delivered on the phone. As for wanting my grandfather to come rescue me, sure I hoped he would. I never stopped hoping, until he informed me not to bother him again.”
    Elissa clenched her hands together tightly in her lap. She wished the old man was here so she could give him a piece of her mind. Cole would resent any sign of compassion from her, though, assuming—wrongly, of